Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Up 6.2% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) shot up 6.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $40.99 and last traded at $40.63. 2,720,501 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 4,786,637 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Moderna in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $140.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moderna currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.00.

Moderna Trading Up 7.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a PE ratio of -7.06 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $54.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.09.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.39) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moderna news, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $42,985.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $571,440.60. This trade represents a 7.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,930 shares of company stock valued at $217,170. Corporate insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 287,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,978 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Moderna by 23.7% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 131,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,787,000 after purchasing an additional 25,177 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Moderna by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,069,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,670,000 after buying an additional 178,115 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in Moderna by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 21,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,459,000 after buying an additional 4,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Moderna by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 114,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,641,000 after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Company Profile

Moderna, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers, develops, and commercializes messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases in the United States, Europe, and internationally. Its respiratory vaccines include COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, spikevax, and hMPV/PIV3 vaccines; latent vaccines comprise cytomegalovirus, epstein-barr virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, and human immunodeficiency virus vaccines; public health vaccines consists of Zika, Nipah, Mpox vaccines; and infectious diseases vaccines, such as lyme and norovirus vaccines.